MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Since the arrival of Alonzo Mourning four
years ago, the Miami Heat have become a dominant team in the
Eastern Conference. Even before Mourning arrived, they were
dominating the Milwaukee Bucks.

Mourning had 19 points and a season-high 21 rebounds as the Heat
pulled away late for their 12th consecutive road win over the
Bucks, 84-76.

Miami has won 21 of the last 22 meetings from Milwaukee overall
and has not suffered a road defeat in the series since a 100-97
setback on December 2, 1992. Since Mourning was acquired just
prior to the 1995-96 season, the Heat is 12-1 overall against
the Bucks.

"They won because of Alonzo's heart," Milwaukee coach George
Karl said. "He wasn't going to let them lose. They made tough
shots, we missed shots. I don't know if they were easy (shots),
but they made them when it counted."

"Zo was very disciplined tonight and we needed all his
rebounds," Miami coach Pat Riley added.

One day after being outscored 10-3 down the stretch in an 84-81
loss to the Utah Jazz, the Heat used an 8-0 run to put away the
Bucks.

After an acrobatic three-point play by Glenn Robinson pulled the
Bucks even at 74-74 with 3:16 to play, Mourning sank a pair of
free throws to put the Heat ahead for good.

Dan Majerle made a 3-pointer and Tim Hardaway, who led Miami
with 22 points, sank a 16-footer to stretch the advantage to
81-74 with 1:40 remaining.

"We have guys that capitalize on things teams do wrong,"
Mourning said. "We got it in the right hands and stuck to our
game plan tonight. We want to make a cushion for ourselves
going into the playoffs."

Terry Porter's free throw with 32 seconds to go ended the run
and lifted Miami one-half game over idle Orlando for first place
in the Atlantic Division.

P.J. Brown scored 14 points and Porter added 12 off the bench
for the Heat, who avoided their first three-game losing streak
of the season.

Robinson collected 17 points and Ray Allen added 12 for the
Bucks, who had won three of their last four games. Milwaukee
remained three games behind Indiana for the top spot in the
Central Division.

Milwaukee and Miami entered the contest ranked 1-2 in the NBA in
3-point shooting. But the clubs combined to make just 5-of-29
from beyond the arc, including a 1-of-8 performance by the
Bucks.

"We didn't have an outside shot going for us tonight," Hardaway
said. "But we drove enough to get the win. In the fourth
(quarter), we drove and made two big shots to finish off the
Bucks."

"We had been hurt on the boards lately, so we tried to come out
and rebound," said Brown. "We did good rebounding the ball, but
we must do better to get the ultimate goal."

Gilliam hit a free throw to give the Bucks a 65-64 lead with
10:12 to play. Hardaway responded with a 19-foot jumper and
Majerle made a driving layup to put Miami ahead, 68-65, with
9:07 left.

Robinson made two free throws and Vinny Del Negro sank a
19-footer from the left sideline as Milwaukee took its last lead
at 69-68 with 7:57 to go.

Hardaway sandwiched four free throws around a layup by Mourning
to give Miami a 74-69 cushion with 5:20 remaining, but Robinson
hit an 11-footer before his off-balance layup resulted in a
game-tying three-point play.